New Summit Academy principal to welcome back students

Jul 31, 2018 02:14PM
● By Julie Slama

Current Summit Academy Principal and kindergarten through eighth-grade Executive Director Tyler Whittle, seen here in 2016, will become Summit’s kindergarten through 12th-grade executive director for all of Summit Academy’s campuses. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

Gary Tucker isn’t new to Summit Academy, but he will
be the public charter school’s new Draper campus principal, the fourth in Summit’s
history.

Tucker,
who taught chemistry and biology at Summit’s high school campus, joined the
Draper campus, serving students kindergarten through middle school, last year
as its assistant principal.

In
addition to teaching at Summit Academy High, Tucker was a science teacher at
Rigby (Idaho) High School and at Rocky Mountain Middle School (Idaho). He
earned his bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife from Utah State and his
master’s in environmental science from University of Idaho. He also earned his
educational specialist degree in education administration from Northwest
Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.

Current
principal and kindergarten through eighth-grade executive director Tyler
Whittle will become Summit’s kindergarten through 12th-grade
executive director

Whittle,
who assumed the principal title in July 2016 when the school’s second
principal, Bob Zentner, retired, grew up
in north Spokane, Washington. As the son of a family grocer, he had several educator
role models in his family.

Whittle earned his bachelor’s
degree in French teaching with an English-as-a-second language endorsement from
Brigham Young University. Whittle earned his master’s in education-leadership
administration at Arizona State University. He taught in Houston and was an
administrative intern in Arizona before joining Summit Academy in 2013.

In a statement he shared with
Summit Academy, Whittle said it has been an honor to be principal and he is
excited to serve all three campuses (Draper, Independence and Bluffdale) in his
new position.

“Summit Academy has been home
to my family and me for the last four years and I look forward to serving the
rest of the Summit Academy community for years to come,” he said.

These
administrative changes also will impact other positions. Paul Lundberg, who has
11 years of experience as an elementary school principal in Rigby, Idaho, and
Pavilion, Wyoming, and 12 years as an elementary and middle school teacher in
Idaho, Falls, Idaho, will become the Draper school’s assistant principal.

Current
Summit Academy Draper campus Assistant Principal and Director of Curriculum Karen
Johnson will step into the new role of student achievement director. She will
help develop, implement and support the academic achievement and growth at all
Summit Academy campuses. Johnson, who has her bachelor’s degree in elementary
education from BYU and her master’s degree in elementary literacy from USU as
well as her reading endorsement in reading and advanced reading from USU, has
more than eight years of experience as a licensed administrator in both
elementary and secondary schools.

At
the high school, Natalie Call, who has been serving as both Summit’s high
school principal and 9-12 executive director, can focus exclusively on the high
school as she remains its principal.

Canyons School District also announced new
administrative appointments.

In
Sandy, former Altara Elementary principal
and Albion Middle assistant principal Scott Jameson will take the helm of Alta
View Elementary for a retiring Karen Medlin, who has been an educator for 40
years.

“I love what
I’ve been doing,” she said about her lifelong career. “What makes a difference
is making connections.”

She recommends to administrators
making changes this fall to “listen to the community, to the teachers and to
the kids. Ask a lot of questions so you know what is going on.”

The other Sandy
administrative appointment is East Sandy Elementary achievement coach Lori
Reynolds being hired as Sprucewood Elementary principal as current principal
Colleen Smith will become a Canyons School District Responsive Services Program
administrator.

Midvale’s Hillcrest High
assistant principal Justin Matagi will replace Jameson at Albion Middle School
as assistant principal and Cottonwood Heights’ Brighton High Assistant
Principal Matt Schelble being reassigned to replace Matagi at Hillcrest. Current
East Midvale Elementary Principal Justin Pitcher has been reassigned to replace
Schelble and current Murray School District’s Viewmont Elementary Principal
Matt Nelson was hired to replace Pitcher.

Also in Canyons District,
current Midvale Middle School achievement coach Sara Allen will replace
Cottonwood Height’s Butler Middle School Assistant Principal Jody Wihongi, who
is retiring; current Midvale Elementary Assistant Principal Matt Watts will
shift to take the position of current Midvale Middle Assistant Principal Kip
Carlsen, who has accepted a position in Granite School District; and current
Canyons District Responsive Services specialist Ashley McKinney will replace
Watts.